"Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson (maybe)

It started with my disgust at the high price a vendor wanted for their tire changer. I ended up making my own for far less, showed it to my friends, and pretty soon the world was beating a path to my door.

Want to start changing your own motorcycle tires, but don't want to shell out $650 to have a super-deluxe tire-changing stand delivered to your door? Truth is, you can start changing your own tires the easy way for just over $200:

• The Mojolever. If you're tired of paying $400 to have your dealer install a set of motorcycle tires for you, you really should check it out.
• Mojoblocks. Now you can use Harbor Freight's low-cost tire-changing stand without scratching your rims.

Information for Free

I've, uh, written some stuff over the years. Most of it is "ride tales" posted on the BMW Sport-Touring website, but a few pieces cover other topics of interest. You might find it interesting or entertaining, but I make no promises on either point. :-)

• Should you fill your tires with nitrogen? The short answer is that for the vast majority of us, there's not much to be gained ; click the link for the long answer.
• If you enjoy reading stories of motorcycle trips, My Torrey Odyssey is about an epic 12-day trip from Michigan to southern Utah in May 2007. The first two days cover the crossing of the Great Plains; the riding and the photos get more interesting on day 3.
• Indoor skydiving, December 2008: if you're scared to jump out of a plane, this might be a bit more accessible for you. Less risky, less training, less altitude. Includes pics and video.
• Head East: a ride tale about a 2009 motorcycle trip to New Hampshire. Six days long, but packed with interesting roadside stops found on the Roadside America website.
• Anatomy of a crappy turn on a motorcycle: no, I didn't crash, but I had a good learning opportunity. Includes several fortuitous action photos and a long-winded discussion of what went right and wrong.
• Dances With Cows: a ride tale about a quick 2010 4-day motorcycle trip through southwestern Wisconsin. The Driftless Zone is one of the best-kept secrets in the country: there are some fantastic motorcycling roads in this area.
• My Torrey Oddity: a 2011 repeat of the grand 2007 voyage.
• Dances with Cows Too: a 2012 trip to the Driftless.
• Dances with Cows: The Roadside America Edition: a 2013 trip to the Driftless, but with a twist - I stopped at a couple dozen cheesy roadside attractions along the way.
• My New Air Compressor: Adventures in Heavy Lifting: in which I take delivery of a large air compressor.
• DIY Yellowjacket Wasp Control: how to literally suck the life out of a bunch of stinging insects.
• An Unusual Heirloom: in which I receive a workbench with some history behind it.
• Another Unusual Heirloom: Another sentimental piece.

Stuff I've Made

"We recognize that we cannot survive on meditation, poems and sunsets. We are restless. We have an irresistible urge to dip our hands into the stuff of the earth and do something with it."

-Samuel Florman, "The Existential Pleasures of Engineering," 1976

When I make something, sometimes it's because it's more fun than buying it from the store, sometimes it's because it's cheaper than buying it from the store, and sometimes you just can't find what you want in the store. It started with a ninth-grade woodworking class - 23 years later, I still have the cedar-lined pine chest I made back then - and in grad school I got real familiar with metalworking. My current job has given me even more experience in the machine shop, and the Mojolevers continued the creative streak, as I learned welding and powdercoating on my own.

A few categories, including plenty of pics:

• Around the house
• In the Workshop